How to hire for a new position with no model to go by or no top performer to clone.
The company has grown because of all the top performers we’ve been hiring. And now we have an opportunity to bring on board a new product or a new service that our customers have been asking about. And it is a great opportunity, an entirely new profit center for our business.
Too many mangers make the mistake of hiring people they “think” can do the job instead of hiring people that they know can do the job. But we’ve never done that here before. That simple statement has ruined more golden opportunities than anything else—We’ve never done that here before.
Rely on existing managers
So we don’t have a model? What we don’t have is someone who is a top performer in this new market. But what we do have is the manager or managers who will be the direct supervisors of these new people. So we let them complete an instrument that will let the job talk to us. The right instrument will tell us what kind of person we need to be looking for to have the greatest opportunity to succeed. It’s really not that complicated. The managers of these new positions know what they will be asking their people to do. And the job can establish the model for us.
Let the job create a model
Years ago we had the opportunity to work with a major technology company. They were introducing a brand new product line and needed sales people to move the product. This was going to be an entirely new kind of “sales” position because they would actually be in the stores helping people to understand how to operate this new system, giving customers a “hands on” kind of experience. By letting the job talk to us we were able to establish a model of the new position.
Turns out we weren’t looking for someone with a firm handshake and friendly smile while asking for the order. What we really needed was a friendly “how can I help you?” kind of person. They were able to hire hundreds of sales people just like that (that’s a common characteristic). The new technology was rolled out very successfully and the high-tech world was off and running.
Hire a brand new position based on facts and experience vs future speculation
So if this is a brand new position, it’s okay to make decisions based on what you think will happen. But if you want to see your bottom-line expand try to get some support for what you are thinking. Let the job tell you what kind of person you need to put in that position. Then you can spend your time motivating top performers instead of coaxing and cajoling strugglers.
A simple three step process To Hire A Brand New Position:
- Create a Model – Use existing managers to help define the role and responsiblities.
- Define job characteristics – what kind of personality and skill set will be needed.
- Avoid hiring based on speculation – Hire for skills you know they will need not what you think the job might entail down the road.
Keese Consulting Can Help
At Keese Consulting we offer a variety of services that can help you learn to interview effectively, identify candidate traits to ensure they will be great fits for your team.
